The Secret to Eternal Life
by Kirby-Chan263
Summary: Pre-cave. A missing person case seems to lead nowhere before it becomes personal to the Mystery Skulls. Their only clue leads them onto a small cruise ship where they must play a "game" for their very lives. If they win, the secret to eternal life is theirs. If they fail...their lives are forfeit.


_The start of a new story, and this time it isn't a bunch of oneshots! This is something I've been thinking about for a long time. I have gotten a lot of help with this story and am pretty excited to see it finally going._

 _This story is pre-cave Mystery Skulls. Also this story is obviously inspired by_ ** _Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva._**

 _The ages for the gang goes as follows: Lewis is 19, Arthur is 20, and Vivi is 22._

* * *

Lightning flashed and the loud roar of thunder followed soon after. The rain poured down harder and harder as the time went by. This was normal around this time of year. The snow had melted and the world was rejuvenating itself. Things would be born anew.

What wasn't normal was the figure trudging through the storm. It was well past midnight and the young woman was soaked to the bone. Her movements were slow and lethargic, yet she went onwards as if she was being pulled.

Ahead of her, the docks against the ocean shook from the force of the waves. Anchored boats almost looked as if they would tip over. But she paid all of this little mind. There were two figures waiting for her just a few feet away, holding umbrellas.

"Welcome home, mistress."

* * *

Arthur groaned as he flopped back against the seat of his beloved van. "Is this rain ever going to stop?"

"Well it'll have to stop eventually." Amber eyes were not amused as they peered over the back of the seat at the lounging dog. "Unless we've stumbled into Noah's Ark. Maybe you should start gathering up animals and building a huge boat."

He received a flick on his nose for a response and Mystery yelped and covered his nose, glaring up at Arthur. "That's not what I meant and you know it," the blonde replied. "Besides, all we'd really need are alpacas and hamsters. Vivi's turtles should be fine." A wide grin spread across Arthur's face as he turned around in his seat. "Oh and you, I guess."

"You _guess?"_ Mystery huffed, feigning offense. "Wow, I can feel the love."

"Always the best for you, buddy." The dog was about to respond but decided that it wasn't worth it. The scratches behind his ears was enough to forgive and forget. "But seriously, it's been raining for days now. Did the weather even say when it would stop?"

"When have weather reports ever been accurate?"

Arthur snorted. "Fair enough." It wasn't that Arthur hated rain. It was just a pain to fix his hair when it got wet. Plus he was getting really sick of the gloomy atmosphere the rain created. This much gloom for so long made his thoughts go to…places he knew it shouldn't.

But that's why Mystery was here, he supposed. "They sure are taking a while, aren't they?"

Mystery shrugged as well as a dog could. "Well, it's the third case that's been reported. And we haven't been getting very many clues or leads. They're probably searching for everything they can."

"Or they're just makin' out somewhere nobody'll see them," Arthur joked with a laugh, making Mystery lift his head curiously. "Bunch of sickos."

"Arthur-"

"I'll have you know we were doing no such thing." The mechanic grinned when the passenger side door opened and pouty blue eyes faced him. "You make us sound so unprofessional, Artie."

"Hey, I just calls it as I sees it."

Behind him, the door to the back of the van opened and the largest member of their group sauntered in. Lewis looked exhausted, making Arthur frown. They both seemed down in the dumps. "'Nother dead end?"

"'Nother dead end," Lewis parroted, sitting next to Mystery (who promptly rolled over and demanded a belly rub, to which Lewis obliged). "We basically just wasted an hour of our lives listening to a forgetful old woman's life story. Whenever she said something, she forgot she said it, and then the vicious cycle continues."

"Ouch."

Vivi groaned against the seat as well. "I don't get it. There is literally _no_ connection between the three girls that vanished. And they all vanished in the exact same way so it has to be the same person doing it. But there's nothing to go on!"

Arthur frowned. "Vivi…are you sure this is really our field? I mean, _really_ sure?" He ignored the look she gave him. "I know you said the way they disappeared seems weird. No witnesses, no signs of a struggle, I get that. But I mean…missing person cases are usually a job reserved for the police, aren't they?"

From the back seat, Lewis reached over and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend's shoulder blades. "You know…he's got a point. And like you said, the victims have literally nothing in common other than the fact that they're girls fresh out of high school. If it's a ghost or something, why would it target three people with no connections?"

Vivi didn't answer and the boys could tell she was conflicted. "We're not trying to bring you down, Vivi," Lewis continued. "But Arthur's right…we do have to look at this realistically too. I think this might be out of our league."

A sigh. "Yeah…" Nothing was worse around the group than a disappointed Vivi (except maybe a _driving_ Vivi). Her confidence just seemed to ooze into everyone else. When it wasn't there, the whole team felt off. And they could tell it was dwindling. "Yeah…you guys are probably right."

Vivi hated admitting she was wrong. But Arthur had told her time and again that not _everything_ had to deal with the paranormal, as much as she would have liked to think otherwise. Normal crimes did happen…well…normal in the sense that ghosts weren't involved. Arthur and Lewis shared a look and Mystery climbed into the front seat and into his mistress' lap.

"Hey." Arthur tried to give a comforting smile and put a hand on Vivi's shoulder. "When we get home, let's all go out to your favorite restaurant. It'll be my treat, and you can stuff your face." It was the least he could do to cheer her up after a bust like this.

The faintest hints of a smile trickled onto Vivi's mouth. "…Okay."


End file.
